TPL Project Stock Company – Shanghai, China

Interview with

Mr. Winston Xing

C.E.O.

Winston, first of all, please
tell us about yourself. When did you start your career in shipping and freight
forwarding? Why did you choose this kind of career? Are you, yourself, from
Shanghai?

When I graduated from Nanjing University in 1990, I happened to get a
chance to work for an Italian forwarding company in Shanghai. At that time, the
forwarding business was quite new in China and, frankly speaking, I knew absolutely
nothing about shipping and forwarding. I decided to take the chance because I would
earn a relatively higher salary in the market. So, I moved from my hometown
Nanjing to Shanghai in 1990 and set up the first representative office in China
for Saima Avandero.

It was an exciting and magical time in the early 1990s in China. There
were a lot of opportunities and you could start a new job without any
experience or background. You had to do everything on your own and you had to
learn everything by practicing. It was quite different from today’s industry.

I had been working for several big European forwarding companies for
fifteen years when, in 2015, I decided to try something new and set up a new
project forwarding company in Shanghai.

What does the name TPL mean and
who owns the company?

TPL is the acronym of Trust Project Logistics. ‘Trust’ reflects our
philosophy and company culture, in that we believe trust is the most important
thing in our business. We want to build up trust externally in our relationships
with clients, vendors and partners. In the meantime, we also want to build up
trust internally inside company. ‘Project’ reflects our core business and
target market.

There are total of six personal investors in TPL Project, including
myself. I am the major shareholder and I am the only one among investors who actually
works in the company too.

Do you have much experience handling
project cargo? Could you provide us with some examples of cargo that you have
handled recently?

In my twenty-nine years in the forwarding business, I have dominated and
handled a lot of big projects in China and overseas. I actually focused on
project business in 2005 and in the last company where I worked I created and
managed a very successful and professional project team. So, I have accumulated
a wealth of experience in project handling and management.

At TPL Project, we focus on project business specifically. Nowadays,
wind energy projects are our core business and most of the international
manufacturers are our clients. In the past two years, we have handled more than
1,800pcs of blades from China for our clients.

There are so many freight
forwarders in China and very often competition in China is focused on price. How
do you ensure to stand out from your competitors?

In my opinion, if you want to survive against competition and stand out
from your competitors, you must have something that others do not have. You
must know your advantages and disadvantages and you must have a very specific
strategy regarding target market and target clients from the very beginning,
then stick to them all the time.

We all say that projects are a people business and it’s true in my
opinion. Fortunately, we have a very professional and assertive project team at
TPL Project. All our staff have been working together for many years, so we
know each other very well and share the same philosophy and working style.

Our target clients are multinational companies because we believe that
we can provide them a ‘European Standard Service with Local Experience and
Price’. Furthermore, we believe that this is what they are looking for in the
Chinese market. All our staff have worked in international forwarding
companies, so we know how they deal with big companies and big projects. Our
communication skill in English as well as our service level meet the European
standards too.

Meanwhile, our decision-making process is simple and direct and we are
also very flexible in negotiation. We can secure our position and market share with
these advantages and our strategy has worked very well so far, as our
achievements in the past three years demonstrate.

Do you belong to any
international networks at the moment? Do you find it useful to be part of a
network?

We just joined the Cross-Ocean network on April 1st 2019 and
that is the only network for us. We always knew that sooner or later we’d need
a network to support our business and we are looking forward to cooperating
with other members in the network to develop project business together.

There is a lot of talk about
trade war between the US and China and that China’s economy is slowing down. What
is your opinion of the current market situation?

As the head of a project forwarding company in China, I don’t feel any
negative influence from the trade war between the US and China. The US is not a
traditional project market for China and long term, I believe that the US and
China can make agreements to avoid a trade war, because these two countries cannot
leave each other out.

Economic fluctuation is a normal situation in every country, including
in China. I am still very optimistic about China’s economy in the long run and I
do not think we should worry too much about it. Comparing the trade between the
US and China, I actually pay more attention to the Chinese ‘One Belt and One
Road’ strategy. That is more important for project business.

Can you also organize inland
transport in China? How about customs clearance in China? Is that difficult
nowadays?

Yes, we do inland transportation in China. In fact, that is our main
business and our daily operation now.

Regarding customs clearance in China, overall it is much easier than in
the past. But everything still depends on the quality of clearance documents,
especially for import customs clearance. You should check the documents
beforehand to make sure they are in order and meet the requirements of customs.
I think that’s the situation in every country.

We actually have a dedicated expert on customs affairs who worked as a
customs broker before. His main job is to check out the documents before they
are handed over to customs. This is a critical step to ensure smooth clearance.

What are TPL’s plans for the
future?

We just completed our third year at TPL Project at the end of March 2019.
I am very proud to say that we have achieved all the goals outlined in our
business plan, though it wasn’t an easy journey, especially for a new company
in a tough market.

Now it’s the beginning of our fourth year at TPL Project and we are
making our new plan for next five years. The plan is still under discussion
internally, so I cannot give many details. Generally speaking though, we’ll
continue our business model and strategy, strengthen our core business and, in
the meantime, diversify our focused business and aim to triple our business
scale in terms of revenue and profit by the end of 2023.